“Not sure what race you watched mate” - Michael Matthews shuts down Instagram hater as World Championship silver medallist bites back at post-race criticism
Cycling
Michael Matthews left Montreal with a World Championship silver medal around his neck and, a few days later, found himself defending how he had raced for it.
The Australian had already been one of the riders questioning the way the chase behind Brandon McNulty played out in the finale, joining Tom Pidcock in raising concerns over trade-team loyalties bleeding across national-team lines.
So when Pidcock posted his own Montreal reaction on Instagram with the caption “Left it all on the road 🌈”, Matthews replied with a simple fire emoji.
One response underneath was rather less complimentary. “You always rode in the wheel, you never attacked or proposed anything, you're a second-rate rider,” one user wrote directly to Matthews.
The 36-year-old didn't take the criticism lying down, and hit back. “Not sure what race you watched mate,” Matthews replied. “Sorry if I didn’t attack enough to make you satisfied but I can assure you I did and I’m very proud of my ride.”
Matthews had spent more than six hours surviving one of the hardest World Championship road races in recent memory before winning the sprint for silver behind McNulty, with Mathieu van der Poel taking bronze.
It was also his second elite road Worlds silver and fourth medal overall, adding to second place in 2015 and bronze medals in 2017 and 2022.
Michael Matthews’ elite World Championship record
| Year | Result |
| 2026 | 2nd |
| 2025 | DNF |
| 2024 | DNF |
| 2023 | DNF |
| 2022 | 3rd |
| 2021 | 25th |
| 2020 | 7th |
| 2019 | 24th |
| 2017 | 3rd |
| 2016 | 4th |
| 2015 | 2nd |
| 2014 | 14th |
| 2013 | DNF |
| 2012 | DNF |
Matthews had already questioned the Montreal finale
His frustration after the finish had centred on what happened before that sprint. “There was a little bit of teamwork between certain riders,” Matthews said of the chase group. “They were riding a little bit together.” If fewer teams had ridden together across national borders, then we would have caught him. It is what it is.”
Pidcock had been even more direct, accusing Isaac del Toro of effectively helping his UAE Team Emirates-XRG trade teammate McNulty despite racing for Mexico. The Briton finished seventh after crashing and fighting his way back into contention, while Matthews stayed with the strongest riders and emerged with silver.
Read also
For Matthews, the result came after two years in which he had already admitted fearing his career might be over, first following a pulmonary embolism in 2025 and then after the crash earlier this season that left him with serious arm injuries.
More than a decade after taking his first elite Worlds silver in Richmond, Matthews was back on the second step of the podium in Montreal. Whatever anyone on Instagram made of how he got there, the Australian clearly had no interest in letting someone else tell him how he should feel about it.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 4visitors 2
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Saw a casual interview with Geraint Thomas and him a few years ago. Seems like a nice laid guy and I wish him well.GregT10-11-2026
- Ernesto Maggioni - The president of the commissaires Mafia. It is getting evident that this guy is basically "Iamalwaysrightandyouarestupidsoiwontlistentoyou" kind of guy. So fire him so that he can be always right in his homeabstractengineer10-11-2026
- Somehow it has got into his mind that he is a GC rider. He is primarily a classics and stage rider who can perform on GC given his day. As a result he is wasting his time on TDF GC and once committed to GC you are too tired to do anything else.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- 🐐❤️Lozza09-11-2026
- This is such a black eye to women's professional cyclocross if this result remains. Marie Schreiber won this race fairly. This finish is not unlike others in cyclocross. Lots of moving around to get to the finish not to cut anyone off , but to generate a sprint on soft wide tires caked with mud and sand. This is not nearly the same as a road race between two riders sprinting to the finish on faster bikes and thinner firmer tires. The powers in charge need to use some common sense, reverse this result and remember this is Cyclocross not Road racing. Unbelievable. . .Zencycle09-11-2026
- Tis beyond your comprehension fine sir so best not to look on with blind eyes to THE GOATS greatness.
Brucegel09-11-2026 - McNulty winning was beneficial in ensuring the rainbow jersey would not remain winless
Front24209-11-2026 - Eccelente! That's 7 riders in total in Red Bull who come from the devo team, 8 if you include Lipo
Rafionain-Glas09-11-2026 - again, nothing is going to be resolved. it is a discussion board. I simply said I didn't see how MS impeded LBs sprint. the UCI doesn't care about my thoughts, and I am really not that emotionally invested in it.mij09-11-2026
- provoke change, lol. this is a discussion board. nothing is going to change by what I say here. just commenting that it didn't look like MS impeded Brand. beyond that not trying to go too deep.mij09-11-2026
Loading
2 Comments